Delta in Talks for Virgin Atlantic Stake

Delta Air Lines has held recent talks to buy a 49 percent stake in British carrier Virgin Atlantic that is currently held by Singapore Airlines, two people familiar with the matter said on Sunday.

Delta, the second-largest U.S. airline by operating revenue after United Continental Holdings , has been looking to acquire a stake in Virgin Atlantic for more than two years in an effort to expand its access to London's Heathrow airport, the people said.

Previous deal talks broke down over price and other issues, and there is no guarantee that the recent discussions would result in a pact, the people said.

The European Union requires that EU carriers be under European control, meaning Delta would need to involve an EU airline if it sought majority control of Virgin.

Delta has been considering ways to partner with Air France-KLM , which could take an additional stake in Virgin and allow the carriers to acquire majority ownership, one of the people said. Virgin founder Richard Branson owns 51 percent of the airline.

Delta has made clear that it would like to expand at Heathrow, a lucrative airport for prized corporate passengers where landing slots are generally hard to acquire. Virgin is the second-largest carrier at Heathrow after IAG's British Airways.

Delta's SkyTeam global alliance, which includes Air France and 18 other airlines, trails its oneworld and Star Alliance counterparts in slot access at Heathrow.

Branson, who set up Virgin Atlantic in 1984, has been weighing the airline's future for years and two years ago appointed Deutsche Bank to examine offers.

"We are always talking to many airlines on a number of different matters but we never comment on the details of these discussions," a Virgin Atlantic spokeswoman said on Sunday. News of Delta's renewed interest in Virgin was first reported by the Sunday Times of London.

Delta declined to comment. Singapore Airlines was not immediately available for comment outside regular business hours.

Capacity-constrained Heathrow, Europe's busiest airport, is operating at close to full capacity after Britain's coalition government blocked its expansion in 2010.

Virgin lost out in the battle to take over smaller UK carrier bmi last year to IAG, giving the owner of British Airways and Iberia more than 50 percent of the takeoff and landing slots at Heathrow.

However in November, Virgin won all of the Heathrow takeoff and landing slots that British Airways was forced to give up after the acquisition of bmi.

Like other European carriers such as Air France and Lufthansa, Virgin has been battered by rising fuel prices and the euro zone crisis. It posted a loss of around 80 million pounds ($128 million) in its last full year.

Virgin, which is hunting for a new chief executive after Steve Ridgway announced he would retire early next year, is not a member of a global airline alliance.